Eden Phillips was born in 1797, probably in Wendall, Massachusetts. He was the son of Jason Phillips, born 1 December 1768 in Southboro, Worcester MA, and his wife, Sarah Carruth, whom he married on 26 Feb. 1794 in Phillipson, MA, born 13 August 1774/5 in Templeton, MA. She was the daughter of James Carruth born 2 October 1737 in Northborough, Worcester Co., MA, and he died on 6 Dec. 1812 in Phillipston, MA. His wife, Lucy Gary, was born 1751 in Marlborough, Worcester Co., MA and died 25 March 1803 in Phillipston. Jason Phillips was a resident of Wendall, MA when he married Sarah.
Jason and Sarah had another son, Dexter Phillips, who was born in 1795 in Wendall and died on 25 June 1881 at 86 in Massachusetts. Grandson, Jason, named one of his children Dexter after his uncle.
Eden married Sally Dresser, born 1805, in probably Wendall, Massachusetts and moved to Pamelia, Jefferson Co., NY in 1822. Sally was the daughter of Aaron Dresser and Abigail Munroe who were married in Wendell on 29 Sept. 1787. (See Aaron Dresser Pioneer this site.) Eden died 10 Nov. 1847 and left widow Sally with five of their children and his widowed mother, Sarah Carruth Phillips, who was then about 74 years of age. Child's Gazetteer of Jefferson County states that Eden and Sally Dresser Phillips had five sons and two daughters: Orrel, Ovid, Marian, John N., Jason, Sarah and Freeman. Child's spells the names of the first two children as Orrel and Obed. However, the census records and probate records for Jefferson Co., reveal that Obed should have been Ovid. We found information on five of the seven children as follows.
1) Orrel Phillips - no further information. This may be a mistake in Child's as there seemed to be a brother of Jason, whose name was William. Either Orrel is a middle name or there was another child, unmentioned, whose name was William.
2) Ovid Phillips was born in 1825 and his wife's name was Almira. Several records give her maiden name as Avery. She died in 1858 at 24 years and 9 months. Ovid was co-administrator with his mother, Sally, in the estate of Eden Phillips. There was very little in the estate file, other than an inventory and the petition to open probate did not include a list of heirs, as Eden died intestate.
Children of Ovid Phillips and Almira Avery:
1) Wesley b 1853
2) Ella b 1855
3) Marian Phillips - no further information
4) John N. Phillips was born on 18 October 1830 in New York and married Nancy Seaman, who was referred to as Nancy Bowen, as her stepfather was Francis (Frank Bowen) and her mother was Elizabeth (Betsey) Comstock, John was an engineer on the Great Lakes. Wife Nancy was born in February 1832 and died in 1908 in Alexandria Bay. Nancy died in 1908 and John died in Brooklyn NY on 9 Jan. 1913 (burial listed as Redwood Cem. in Jefferson Co., NY) at the home of their daughter, Edith M. Bascom, b. 1863. She was the wife of William T. Bascom who was born in Vermont in 1859. In the last census before her death, Nancy Phillips stated that she had been the mother of five children, and only one was surviving in 1900.
Children of John N. Phillips and Nancy Seaman-Bowen:
1) Willie b 1853, died young
2) Johnie b 1857, died young
3) Eden J b 1860, died 1862
4) Metta b 1862, d 1863
5) Edith M. b 1863, died 24 Feb. 1937, wife of William T. Bascom of New York City.
5) Jason Phillips - born 12 July 1834 in Jefferson Co. and died 13 Sept. 1918 in Clark Co., WI. Jason's life is well outlined in the History of Clark Co., WI (1918) by Franklyn, Curtiss-Wedge. From Jason's biography we learn that Eden Phillips, Jason's father, was born in MA, son of Jason Phillips, an Englishman, or of English origin. Jason stated he was the fifth born of seven children in his immediate family. His statement was that at the age of 12, after his father died, he had to fend for himself and he worked on Lake Ontario on boats, perhaps with brother John's help. At 17 years he moved to Wisconsin and bought a farm in Winnebago County. During his 20 years on that farm, he married Lovina Hoadley, (b 1833, d 1873 Winnebago Co., WI, daughter of John D. Hoadley and Philena Comstock of Jefferson Co.) served in the Civil War, and survived many fights and battles, including Shiloh and Vicksburg. With Lovina he had two children: Emily and Dexter.
In 1871 he moved to Clark County, Wisconsin and farmed and provided public service on school boards and as an assessor. In 1879 he married as his second wife, Avilda Davis, widow of Luther Davis. She was born 5 March 1846, daughter of John T. and Eliza (Terrell)Davis who moved to Wisconsin from New York.
Children of Jason Phillips and Lovina Hoadley:
1) Emily - bc 1854; she married on 3 May 1884 to Alexander Fraser of Exeter, England, son of Alexander and M. A. Barnacott. They lived in Belfield, North Dakota.
2) Dexter W. Phillips was born in Omro, Winnebago Co, WI on 7 Nov. 1855. He married January 1883 to Elizabeth Davis and had five children: Lenore, Wayland F., Myra M. and others not mentioned.
6) Sarah Phillips - born 1837. She married Harvey George, who was born in 1831 in NY and his parents were born in New Hampshire. The couple moved to Melrose, Iowa and Sarah was alone at age 44 with her children in 1880:
Children of Sarah Phillips and Harvey George:
1) Dora b 1865
2) Howard b 1869
3) Edith b 1873
7) Freeman Phillips - born 1841 and died 1921 in Jefferson Co. He enlisted for service in the Civil War at age 20 and served for three years and 11 months. When he was on a furlough in 1864, he married Emily J. Soper, daughter of Lauren L. Soper and Abigail Pease, of Theresa. See: Pioneer Soper Family this site. Emily was born in 1841 and died in 1929. Both are buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Theresa.
Children of Freeman Phillips and Emily J. Soper:
1) Frank L. - married Emogene House; he born 1866 and d 1900. Emma b 1865, d 1934
2) Abbie L.
3) Jennie P. - b 14 August 1869 at Wales, Michigan; Freeman and Emily were briefly residents of Michigan, where Freeman worked as a laborer.
4) Maude L.
5) Fay L.
6) Freddie - died in infancy
NOTE: No death records or tombstones were found for Jason Phillips, Sarah Carruth Phillips, or Sally Dresser Phillips.
Sources: Vital Records, census records, cemetery records, tombstones, Child's, History of Clark Co., WI, Hoadley Genealogy, Civil War Records, Jefferson Co. Probate Records, Soper Family History, Dresser Family Records, Carruth Family Records.
This information about the Pioneer Phillips family was contributed by volunteer Marilyn Sapienza.
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